Towboats Getting Stuck in Ice on the Mississippi

[@conniehansard2464]

I'm loving this! the scenery is beautiful, those caves looks like someone could live in them .thanks for the ride..

[@daviddaves1544]

I live in that area found an Indian head on top of those bluff's SIU said it was 2500 yrs old Carbon dating

[@TheMrdavidlangley]

I've seen that smokestack in many of your videos. Holy moly, that's one huge smoke stack. It's hard to say how far it is. Could be 50 miles. Wow! I don't know why... But this music puts me in the mood for tacos. lol. Cool tune. Rocks! Another great video. Awesome content. Icebergs! Thank you my friend, and have a good evening.

[@BowzerTowboats]

That smokestack is mostly steam from the Ameren Electric Sioux Plant and is 5 or 6 miles away in most of my videos. Man tacos sound so good! Thanks David I do appreciate you watching and commenting!

[@LadyMarie880]

I have to say, I can't tell you how many times I have watched this video and your others I so enjoy thank you...so enjoyed.

[@bikemike2777]

Great vid. Glad to see someone using a filming drone in a way that isn't destroying the quad choppy reputation

[@erikb8877]

That spot between Grafton and Mel Price(lock & dam 26) is notorious for ice gorging. As boats break up the ice from lock 25 and up the Illinois River, it flows down and gorges up above Mel Price. I dont remember what year it was but we spent over a week stuck there due to ice. When we finally got to the lock, it took a full day to get from the end of the long wall to inside the chamber. If memory serves me correct, we split the tow and did a double locking in a 1200' chamber. Nobody gets any sleep, and don't forget to ratchet strap yourself into bed😏.

[@bigronshobbies8209]

Great footage Bowzer, my hat goes off to these guys fighting the winter waters !

[@BowzerTowboats]

Thanks Ron, you know they earn their pay in that weather.

[@stevedunlop1934]

Thank you, Bowzer, some really good footage there.

[@arfshesaid4325]

great footage, cool perspective that ive never seen before, oh and great tunes too

[@BowzerTowboats]

Thanks so much!

[@Rbrady_Stl]

@@BowzerTowboatsHello Bowzer, I work at Riverlands in West Alton. Amazing to see how the barges can push through thick ice. How do you get the towboat radar? Is that an app?

[@BowzerTowboats]

@@Rbrady_Stl There are a couple of apps. I use Marine Traffic on my android and the one you see on the video is Boat Beacon on my tablet which is used with an AIS receiver for real time AIS (AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM )

[@ronnieflorence5252]

Thanks again for another great video.

[@keithroper7056]

Great capture, great music.

[@MarkShepard]

great video and framing as always Bowzer! I was thinking of you the other day cuz I got some great drone footage over the frozen Hudson River... keep warm out there!

[@BowzerTowboats]

Thanks Mark Look forward to your frozen Hudson footage!

[@ronmorgan7502]

Very nice video. Would prefer to hear the music of the boat and the river though.

[@kingtut8381]

THANX SO MUCH FOR THE VID. SHOWS US SOME OF THE PERILS THAT THE, ''' PUSHERS'' AND THE CREW HAVE TO CONTEND WITH

[@vanlife_unlimited7259]

very beautiful video! thank you!

[@captviper]

@bowzer you should get a marine radio and scan 13

[@BowzerTowboats]

I will do that.

[@flick22601]

Are any of these towboats fitted with rear bumpers which would allow another towboat/barge to push from their rear. Would increase their tow power significantly. They do with trains quite often.

[@jamesdavis5096]

what app are you using to see that?

[@wdmickjr]

No credits for the soundtrack?

[@almirria6753]

The downstream side of Lock & Dam #25 is ice free as of Sunday. The upstream side is still pretty ice chocked. The Chattie Sue Smith is up in Hardin Ill.

[@BowzerTowboats]

Got pretty warm, didn't it! Haven't seen the river since last Saturday and there was still pretty much ice in the Alton pool.

[@almirria6753]

@@BowzerTowboats Expect more ice [up stream side] this weekend, the weather is to turn cold again.

[@almirria6753]

@@BowzerTowboats The Chattie Sue Smith was in dry dock most of the winter since she sank at the lock & dam #25 this last fall.

[@RVJimD]

I'll bet it makes a heck of a racket when those big wheels suck in a bunch of ice chunks?

[@drewkossen9324]

Yes it does. I remember my first trip on the river, we were heading back towards cinti from paducah and the river popped up a good ten feet and the first log hit the wheel of the boat took a couple good waps round the wheel and hull. I was worried and asked the senior deckhand that was on watch with me and he told me it was no big deal as long as it doesn't stall the engine

[@BowzerTowboats]

The boat shakes as well.

[@captviper]

Looked to me the Miles Madison couldnt make the steer due to ice on her stbd, so the Stennis went up beside him and broke the ice, giving the Madison room on the stbd stern to get a good point.

[@kadenkaiden4958]

i guess Im pretty off topic but do anybody know of a good place to watch new tv shows online ?

[@zaneelisha4945]

@Kaden Kaiden lately I have been using flixzone. You can find it on google :)

[@Ralphcanoeingadventures]

What app do you use to find the boats?

[@BowzerTowboats]

I use Marine traffic on the phone and Boat Beacon on the table you see in the videos.

[@Ralphcanoeingadventures]

@@BowzerTowboats thank you. I purchased the app. I plan on using it a lot on the Mississippi this summer.

[@HondaGoldwingGL1800]

Maybe a dumb question, but does the river freeze up enough to where people get out on it in snow mobiles? I have never seen anything like this and it might just warrant a trip up in this area to actually see it first hand. Miles Madison looks like it is struggling with the amount of water being moved out the back from the props. Makes me wonder too if the props suck in some big chunks of ice , it will damage them.

[@jeffreyfreeman1485]

In most places it doesn't freeze solid like a lake. It is mostly chunk ice that piles up behind dams. Not really suitable for snowmobiling, in fact downfight dangerous.

[@BowzerTowboats]

I know I have heard of folks doing that up in Minnesota not so much down this way. I have also heard that people have walked across the Mississippi in the St Louis area many years ago.

[@HondaGoldwingGL1800]

Thanks @@jeffreyfreeman1485

[@HondaGoldwingGL1800]

@@BowzerTowboats I think I would just stay on land and watch.

[@clodwolf]

Snow machine tracks all over the Mississippi, in northern Minnesota

[@djs4134]

Who are the artists in your soundtrack selections?

[@kingtut8381]

HEY, CAPT., HOW MUCH ICE CAN THESE ''PUSHERS'' BREAK ? I ALWAYS THOUGHT ABOUT 6 OR 8 INCHES ?

[@BowzerTowboats]

I think you are correct.

[@captviper]

@@BowzerTowboats Last year they came thru a solid foot in lake Pepin.

[@BowzerTowboats]

@@captviper Impressive! Thanks for the info!

[@sighpocket5]

Hey Captain... how come you do not have ice breaker barges on the lead of the tow.....( keyboard jockey asking possibly very stupid question?)

[@andreascunow1467]

@@sighpocket5 Those barges can break ice as their bow can slide up and break through, just like on a purpose-built icebreaker. It doesn't work as well as the hull is surely not optimized for it, but it works. The issue rivertugs face is probably more of a steering issue: They have to follow the rivers contours and can't just point one way and run straight through for miles on end. Breaking up the ice one the side of a vessel is nearly impossible without expensive and complicated systems in the hull to do so, meaning that any sort of bend can be very troublesome. In this video, that problem is solved when the Senator Stennis comes up on the starboard of the Madison, breaking the ice there and allowing the Madison to turn and then start moving forwards again, where she shows herself capable enough to break ice dead ahead. (Hope that helped!)

[@ChrisandEileen]

What is the boat tracking software ? I live on the Ohio river and would love to know the barges going up and down our river..

[@joeschneid7425]

MarineTraffic.com

[@waynep343]

time to mount an excavator on the bow of the barges.. to peck thru the ice in front of the barges. or get creative with a well insulated industrial water pump.. with some booms that have nozzles that swing back and forth spraying high pressure water to cut slots in the ice to allow it to be broken easier by the bows on the barges. i always thought that polar vessels should have a modified excavator that can move around the hull on vertically mounted rails on the sides.. this could do ice cutting when in forward or reverse or along the sides when stopped.. it could also double lifting small and medium boats over along with handing cargo over the sides either onto the ice or dock. a hatch that rotates open on the side of the hull could open allowing curved tracks to move out to park the excavator in a secured room when not needed. without the crawler tracks and running on rails.. there is no need for the counterweight. removing significant weight from the unit.

[@manfredvonrichthofen4738]

thx for sharing

[@jaydowling116]

Is that the AmerenUE Souix Plant in the background?

[@BowzerTowboats]

Yes it is thanks for watching!

[@integr8er66]

I was going to ask the same thing, I saw the map said Paducah but I know that was on the Ohio, and I have boated this stretch for about 30 years and it sure looked familiar. I even locked through the old L&D 26 at Alton before they blasted it

[@waynefrederick3047]

Thanks Bowzer, another great video, beautiful day, unless your stuck in the ice! Are these boats running props or kort nozzles? I would think its more efficient on the river to have nozzle propulsion. Better manuvuerability and control, but not sure. And arent there any Coast Guard Ice Breakers on the river to keep commerence moving? I thought there used to be.

[@MrBoxer1200]

These boats are prop driven, the propulsion drive is just starting to show up on the river and is great technology.

[@waynefrederick3047]

@@MrBoxer1200 thanks James, didnt find much info on propulsion systems when i looked it up. But yea, i would have thought nozzles would be more prevailent. Unless debris in water is a big concern. I know when i was in NY harbor years ago there was a good amout, the army corps even had a boat that its job was just picking up peices of old piers and stuff floating.

[@BowzerTowboats]

Thanks! I have 1 video of a newer Z Drive boat here kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6jGZYqueql7g5o We don't see any Coast Guard Ice Breaker type missions that I know of. They do have to maintain bouys that get moved by ice to maintain the channel

[@randykurtz1994]

First rule of towboating never work on a boat with toe knees on the stern of the boat.....

[@georgeoh46]

Good afternoon, I was wondering it the Coast Guard break ice on the Mississippi and the other inland waterways.

[@BowzerTowboats]

Not that I am aware of.

[@ranchhq8014]

@@BowzerTowboats I rather enjoy the tunes.

[@jeffyoung2089]

They was having a rough time!!

[@BowzerTowboats]

Yes they were and they did finally make it up the Illinois River.

[@fnudor4808]

strange sound of the engine, the tug use trumpet muffler

[@sighpocket5]

Nice!!!

[@spartan0738]

Thanks for the video! Nice catch of the trio of ice breakers or attempting to be haha. Captians are sure earning their pay today

[@BowzerTowboats]

Thanks Ryan lol they kept at it.

[@benjamingiese841]

When you do finally die in a terrible crash, I hope you don’t take any innocent person with you. Good grief.

[@pcar5]

People tend to not die in drone accidents.

[@benjamingiese841]

DHS cute. Put the phone down and your eyes in the road.

[@raincoast2396]

Okay, enough already! Get rid of the crappy music track.

[@BowzerTowboats]

I tried to get real audio for this but I was unsuccessful. My next video has no music. Thanks for watching!

[@dougholt858]

What program or website are you using to pinpoint the barge traffic.